The blue colouring of Robin eggs, while beautiful, is a bit puzzling.
Many bird species lay speckled eggs, which blend in with their surroundings and make them less likely to be eaten. Some go beyond mere speckles and into the realm of squiggles, to camouflage them almost completely within the twigs of the nest. The Great Bowerbird’s eggs are a perfect example of this, and look like they were painted by a kindergartener with a tiny brush.
So why does the Robin lay pastel-blue eggs that look like they were made by Cadbury?
The leading theory has to do with sunlight.
Robins lay their eggs in areas that get moderate sun, and the blue is thought to protect against UV rays. In fact, the colour of an egg says a lot about the environment in which they are laid. Some eggs’ primary concern is with overheating; in these cases, the shells are pure white to reflect the sun’s rays. For others, predators are the main threat, so: speckles.
Whether or not the blue protects the inside of a Robin’s egg from UV rays, it certainly does make for one of the prettier entries in the highly varied world of avian eggs.
American pianist Rob Burger’s new record, Marching With Feathers, offers impressive variety as well. Each track is sonically unique, and the instruments listed on the record include guitar, Ebow lapsteel, organ, dulcitone, harmonium, accordion, melodica, orchestron, and something called a “resonant garden.”
The whole record is worth a listen, but the clear standout for me is “A Robin Egg.”
What makes this a beautiful song:
1. Burger’s touch on the piano, as lilting as Satie and as soft as Olafur Arnalds, gives the track its eggshell fragility.
2. The way the right hand isn’t quite in time with the left hand somehow conveys the twitching head of a bird eyeing the horizon for danger as it sits on its eggs.
3. On first listen it comes off as a simple piano solo, but listen closely at 1.40 and there’s something else there in the background. A clarinet? Something stringed? A resonant garden? I don’t know, but it helps give the song its pastel-blue finish.
Recommended listening activity:
Imagining what the view from your window will look like when spring comes.